Don’t throw it out! Repair café reduces landfill
AN unassuming shed on Southport Avenue is where Susie Cunningham’s trustiest shoes are having their tired old soles repaired. Susie shares about the wonderful people who make up Tamborine Mountain Repair Cafe, and what unites them.
TWO loved-to-death knitted ducklings, a broken doll bed, tired old brown boots and faded pink sandals land at the Tamborine Mountain Repair Cafe on the day I visit.
All of these items have come out of my car boot because I am here to learn first-hand just what this team of resourceful volunteers is capable of.
Our curious toddler, Rosie, has pulled the eyes out of one duckling and the stuffing out of the other. The doll bed bottomed out when she couldn’t resist the urge to climb in for a kip.
The boots and sandals – both mine – are at least a decade old and their weary soles are falling apart but they are softened to perfection, so I simply won’t throw them out.
There’s no real monetary value in any of these items but the idea of tossing them in the bin when they are repairable seems wasteful.
At the Tamborine Mountain Community Care Association (TMCCA)’s Repair Cafe, I find a delightful collection of people who feel the same way.
Dedicated Volunteers
Every Wednesday and Friday from 9.30am to midday, volunteers get on the tools.
I visit on a Wednesday and retired news photographer Hugh Kearney greets me with a tale of how Stuart Wright fixed his broken old bellows camera, which is now on proud display in his home.
“Stuart’s an engineer and he’s very clever. He’s here on Fridays – the A Team is here on Fridays,” he says.
After being impressed with Stuart’s job of making the bellows open and close again Hugh – who is into woodwork – tried his hand at fixing an old cradle at the Repair Cafe.
Hugh has been hooked ever since he experienced the satisfaction of giving that old cradle a new lease on life and as we chat, he is already getting stuck into fixing Rosie’s doll bed.
UNITED AGAINST WASTAGE
Volunteers at the repair cafe hate throwing things out.
Retired civil engineer Neil Brown, who arrives just as the kettle is boiling, loves a challenge.
“I work from a logic point of view – figure out why it’s busted and put it back together. The environmentalist in me loves that we’re trying to stop stuff being chucked away,” he says.
“I’d say we don’t get enough work – we’re actually looking for new projects all the time.”
Hugh, Neil and coordinator Jaime Strauss, who is also there on the Wednesday when I visit, light up when another repair project comes in.
They crowd eagerly around the intricate musical Ferris wheel, which a woman has brought in with hopes to have it going again in time for the grandkids to see it at Christmas.
Their enthusiasm is just as strong when a happy customer comes in to collect an elaborate leadlight lamp they have repaired.
They tell me the most common kinds of jobs seem to be sharpening secateurs and other garden tools and fixing furniture. But many weird and wonderful things come across their workbench, and they are willing to try their hands at just about anything.
IMPRESSIVE SKILLS
Your broken items are in good hands at the Repair Cafe.
Among the volunteers – who are all retired – there are engineers and manual arts professionals, a professor of entomology and even a retired psychotherapist.
They are united in their desire to reduce waste and even the most qualified of the bunch are always learning new things from each other.
Coordinator Jaime – she’s the retired psychotherapist – is there every Wednesday and Friday with her rescue border collie, Rowdy. Jaime is also a qualified JP who crafts witty poems about what they do at the Repair Cafe.
As we chat over a cuppa and biscuits – morning tea being an important part of what happens at the Repair Cafe – she reiterates the incredible diversity of skills among their volunteers.
As well as Hugh, Neil, Stuart and Jaime, who we have already spoken about, the small but skilled group boasts an impressive collective resume.
There is Leon the 93-year-old professor of entomology, Neville the manual arts expert who was high up in TAFE, Lynette the world-class knitter, retired archaeologist Polly, who can do anything with jewellery and craftwork, Len the leatherworker and retired commercial airline pilot Bob.
“Everyone comes from very professional backgrounds, but we all have the same philosophy – no waste,” Jaime says.
Repairs are made in exchange for a donation to the TMCCA, in proportion to the work done. For more information phone TMCCA on 5545 4968.
